GFB News Magazine
Farms Fund helps next-gen farmers access land
by Jay Stone
News Reporter
Posted on August 31, 2024 5:04 PM
The 2022 Census of Agriculture documented 39,264 farms in Georgia – 3,175 fewer than in the previous 2017 ag census. Georgia has 67,082 farmers whose average age is 59 years. Between 2017 and 2022, Georgia lost 1,005 farmers.
With the numbers of farms and farm operators diminishing and the average age of U.S. farmers increasing, the Conservation Fund has developed a pathway to land ownership that seeks to change those trends, through an offshoot called the Farms Fund, designed to break down traditional barriers to land ownership.
Georgia Farms Fund Program Manager Krisztián Varsa detailed how the organization is helping first-time farmers access land and capital.
“The average age of the farmer went up again in the latest ag census, and that means that we have fewer farms and fewer farmers and that's not going to work,” said Varsa, who led a breakout session at the Georgia Farm Bureau Young Farmers & Ranchers Summer Leadership Conference. “We need food, we need fiber, we need the things farmers provide, and we don't have a system that makes sure that next generation of farmers can get to the land and produce those things.”
Launched in 2021, the Farms Fund helps farmers acquire small to mid-sized tracts of farmland, invests in the development of farm infrastructure and coordinates various types of support to help the farmers achieve success.
Through the purchase of conservation easements, farmland is permanently protected from being developed for non-farm uses like residential, industrial or commercial projects.
To qualify, farmers must have a minimum of three years of farm management experience with documented financial records, a desire to farm more than 20 acres using sustainable agricultural practices and have a viable business plan.
The land is made accessible through lease-to-own contracts varying from three to five years for land, which is protected through the conservation easements, keeping the land price at the lower agricultural use value. Farms Fund rolls the proceeds from the land sales into acquisition of other new tracts of farmland so the process can be repeated with other farmers.
In addition to helping farmers access land and capital, the Farms Fund provides support. This includes making contractors available for farm business planning, bookkeeping and other administrative functions. Technical assistance for farming practices is available through USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service and other partners.
Varsa said the Farms Fund aims to establish a network of 80 farms in locations surrounding metro Atlanta and across North Georgia over the next 10 years. It currently has 11 farms.
For more information about The Farms Fund, visit www.farmsfund.org or email Varsa at kvarsa@conservationfund.org.
